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Welcome to the Critics'
Corner
Gail Worley
My personal tastes mostly fall in the rock
and roll domain, branching out to various genres such as classic
hard rock, heavy metal, melodic industrial, power pop and
singer/songwriters. So I'll be looking for and listening to artists
whose music excites me and about which I feel inspired to write. Any
criticism will be constructive in nature; meant to shine a light on
an area where the performance could be improved. I have never been
one to review a song I didn't care for, just for the purpose of
ripping on it, and I don't plan to start now. Hopefully, my reviews
will be fun to read and will turn people on to some cool new bands.
You can email me at: [email protected].
| NANYANA |
 Listen to: "Who's
To Blame" |
| NANYANA is the name of the
beautiful, dark-haired vocalist of this Atlanta, Georgia
based quintet. She's got a nice set of pipes, too, and her
vocals will sound familiar but it's hard to name check
specific influences. The vocalist from Swing Out Sister or
Lisa Stansfield maybe? Of the three cuts available on
Starpolish, "Who's to Blame" -- a lovely and very soulful
post-break-up ballad with some nice atmosphere -- is my
favorite. The mellow jazz sax bridge is truly haunting and
drummer Todd Damian creates an amazing sense of space. This is
a song I wanted to hear over and over again.
On "Six White Horses," lead guitarist Jason Reichert serves
up blues based guitar rock in the style of Stevie Ray Vaughn,
and the rhythm section adds a nice funk groove. To my ears,
the band has a very regional sound, and their tendency to jam
out makes them well suited to the vibe of a big, outdoor live
gig. I liked this song better after I played it three or four
times.
The addition of keyboards as a co-lead instrument gives
"Something About You" a 70's flavor. This lyric from the
chorus: "There was something about you/something about the way
you want to love me" is really intriguing. Like, what does she
mean exactly? Overall, I'd say NANYANA plays jazz-flavored
blues rock in the adult contemporary vein. If that's your bag,
check them out.
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